Another View: Providing medical help at the border is the right thing to do

Some callously might say that providing emergency medical treatment on site for those crossing into our country illegally is a waste of taxpayer dollars and resources. But we don’t see it that way. It’s a humanitarian cause, and it’s the right thing to do.

The Associated Press recently reported that faced with increased numbers of immigrants crossing into South Texas, the U.S. Border Patrol now has employed 100 emergency medical technicians in its nine stations in the Rio Grande sector.

Agents trained as EMTs have been part of search and rescue teams since the late 1990s, and adding them to regular patrols by the Office of Air and Marine began this September.

The EMTs are working three shifts a day, accompanying agents in helicopters via air support and on the ground. And they are saving lives.

Take, for instance, the 11-year-old girl from El Salvador who had become lost in the brush about an hour’s drive north of the border. A Customs and Border Protection helicopter spotted the girl on Nov. 24 when temperatures dropped suddenly into the mid-40s. She was wet and shivering and after the crew landed near her, they administered aid.

They likely saved her life, and they did the right thing. They did what America is known for throughout the world.

The Rio Grande Valley has become the busiest sector on the Southwest border. This southernmost tip of Texas provides the most direct route for people leaving Central America to get into the United States. The terrain is dangerous. It is fraught with mesquite and soft, sinking sand pits. It’s easy to get lost. and the weather can be brutally hot and dry with temperatures rising above 100 degrees.

Having medical assistance ready for those suffering in these types of conditions will likely enable those people to return to their homes healthy.

We aren’t advocating for what they are doing. But we all know many who have done it. We’re saying that no one should die in our backyards while trying to cross here seeking a better life.

For the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the Border Patrol made about 150,000 arrests in this sector, The Associated Press reported. That’s an increase of more than 50 percent from the previous year. So far, this fiscal year, the sector’s agents have already made a whopping 20,000 arrests — 60 percent more than at this time last year.

Poor conditions and faltering economies drive thousands to the United States, in search of better prospects.

Last year, agents made more than 700 rescues in this sector, but also found more than 150 dead bodies.

We hope this humanitarian assistance offered will drive those numbers down significantly this year.